Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of research by Oxford University, published by The Trussell Trust in October 2017, on the effect of benefit sanctions on food insecurity and food bank usage.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The report, which was published on 27 October 2016, does not provide evidence of a causal link between benefit sanctions and the use of food banks. In the year to September 2016 the number of JSA sanctions has halved.
We know the most effective route out of poverty is work. That is why we are determined to help people find employment through a wide range of support targeted to each individual’s personal circumstances.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his Department's policy to (a) collect data on the number of people subject to a benefit sanction who have used food banks at any time over the duration of that sanction and (b) publish that data.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not make direct referrals to food banks; therefore no data are collected. There are no plans to change this approach.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the total amount levied in health and safety fines on businesses since 2014; and what amount has been levied in each business sector.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in November 2016 show that, in 2014/15 and 2015/16, prosecutions in Great Britain instituted by HSE for health and safety offences (or referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland) led to fines totalling £56.3 million. The figures include fines imposed on individuals and all types of organisation. The table below provides a breakdown by year and industrial sector. The data does not include fines resulting from health and safety prosecutions taken by other enforcing organisations such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Office of Road and Rail, or the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
Total fines for prosecution cases instituted by HSE1 in Great Britain2, by industrial sector 2014/153 & 2015/16p | ||
Industrial sector4 | 2014/15 | 2015/16p |
All Industries | £18,072,811 | £38,266,663 |
Agriculture | £823,944 | £612,720 |
Mining and Quarrying | £473,015 | £4,164,120 |
Manufacturing | £4,673,116 | £12,105,301 |
Utility Supply | £51,135 | £4,512,000 |
Water Supply/Waste Management | £2,056,270 | £1,840,445 |
Construction | £4,258,992 | £7,805,975 |
Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants | £367,611 | £603,202 |
Transportation and Storage | £1,062,698 | £3,335,515 |
Communications, Business Services and Finance | £1,702,070 | £1,228,875 |
Public Administration | £312,120 | £350,515 |
Education | £160,125 | £304,115 |
Human Health and Social Work activities | £1,167,000 | £967,120 |
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation; Other Service activities | £964,715 | £436,760 |
Notes | ||
1 HSE does not hold published statistics for the same period that show the level of fines arising from prosecutions instituted by local authorities. | ||
2 In Scotland, HSE investigate potential offences but cannot institute legal proceedings. HSE send a report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). COPFS makes the final decision whether to institute legal proceedings and which offences are taken. | ||
3 Year of prosecution is based on when a result has been secured i.e. the prosecution has been completed. The year is from the beginning of April to the end of March. | ||
4 Industrial sector is defined by Section level of the UK Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC2007). | ||
p= provisional | ||
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Bury St Edmunds constituency are in receipt of the new enterprise allowance.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Statistics published on 29 June 2016 show from April 2011 to March 2016, 210 participants started the mentoring phase of NEA, of which 120 have started a business with support from the scheme in the constituency of Bury St Edmunds.
The most recent NEA statistics can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/new-enterprise-allowance-apr-2011-to-mar-2016
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many families accessed support from the Child Support Agency in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) the East of England and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
We do not have information on the number of families who accessed support. Information has been provided in the table on the caseload at the end of the year, which will differ from the number of families supported as multiple cases may be linked to the same family.
| Dec-11 | Dec-12 | Dec-13 | Dec-14 | Dec-15 |
Bury St Edmunds | 1,580 | 1,690 | 2,090 | 1,980 | 1,850 |
East of England | 94,800 | 94,600 | 115,700 | 111,400 | 104,900 |
England and Wales | 1,035,500 | 1,010,600 | 1,231,900 | 1,185,200 | 1,111,500 |
Notes:
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants there were in Bury St Edmunds constituency in (a) June 2015, (b) December 2015 and (c) the latest month for which figures are available.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is available in the official Universal Credit statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.